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Qualified Charitable Distributions
A qualified charitable distribution (QCD) is a distribution made directly by the trustee of your individual retirement arrangement (IRA), other than a SEP or SIMPLE IRA, to certain qualified organizations. You must have been at least age 70½ when the distribution was made. Your total QCDs for the year cannot be more than $100,000. If all the requirements are met, a QCD is nontaxable, but you cannot claim a charitable contribution deduction for a QCD. See Publication 590, Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs), for more information about QCDs.
Value of Time or Services
You cannot deduct the value of your time or services, including:
Blood donations to the Red Cross or to blood banks, and
The value of income lost while you work as an unpaid volunteer for a qualified organization.
Personal Expenses
You cannot deduct personal, living, or family expenses, such as the following items.
The cost of meals you eat while you perform services for a qualified organization, unless it is necessary for you to be away from home overnight while performing the services.
Adoption expenses, including fees paid to an adoption agency and the costs of keeping a child in your home before adoption is final. However, you may be able to claim a tax credit for these expenses. Also, you may be able to exclude from your gross income amounts paid or reimbursed by your employer for your adoption expenses. See Form 8839, Qualified Adoption Expenses, and its instructions, for more information. You also may be able to claim an exemption for the child. See Exemptions for Dependents in Publication 501 for more information.
Appraisal Fees
Fees that you pay to find the fair market value of donated property are not deductible as contributions. You can claim them, subject to the 2%-of-adjusted-gross-income limit, as a miscellaneous itemized deduction on Schedule A (Form 1040). See Deductions Subject to the 2% Limit in Publication 529 for more information.
Contributions to Donor Advised Funds
You cannot deduct a contribution to a donor advised fund after February 13, 2007, if:
The qualified organization that sponsors the fund is a war veterans' organization, a fraternal society, or a nonprofit cemetery company, or
You do not have an acknowledgment from that sponsoring organization that it has exclusive legal control over the assets contributed.
There are also other circumstances in which you cannot deduct your contribution to a donor advised fund.
Generally, a donor advised fund is a fund or account in which a donor can, because of being a donor, advise the fund how to distribute or invest amounts held in the fund. For details, see Internal Revenue Code section 170(f)(18).
Partial Interest in Property
Generally, you cannot deduct a contribution of less than your entire interest in property. For details, see Partial Interest in Property under Contributions of Property, later.
